Just saw the 300
It was a heart pounding, hanging-on-the-edge-of-your-seat thrill ride. Lots of blood and sword play. Go see it if you like movies like Troy or Braveheart.
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whaaaat? the review in the newspaper said it wasn't much more than an advertisement for its own video game, and the action sucked.
need more input.0 -
Is it historically accurate?
When I was at NATO military headquarters for two years, our Mascot was the Spartans. Someone's got to protect the Eloi... which we pronounced El-Wah[}:)]0 -
It was told from the perspective of a tall tale, as it might have perhaps been verbally passed down to ancient Greek children. It's based on a graphic novel/comic book version of this battle, and is highly stylized. Think of it as a fantasy version rather than historically precise version. The major elements of the story are based on the historical concept, but it is a work of entertainment more than eduction. I really liked it, and wrote a detailed review of it here:
http://lestdarknessfall.blogspot.com/2007/03/300-fantasy-movie-about-thermopylae.html0 -
it's based on a book by frank miller.
here's what I read, copying the url doesn't work.
quote:Frank Miller is the biggest name in American comic books - or graphic novels, as his fans call them. But for the author of such pulpy, contemporary tales as "Sin City" and "The Dark Knight," the historical epic "300" must have been a risky venture. It recounts the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., when 300 warriors from the city-state of Sparta faced a force of several hundred thousand Persians.
To make it accessible to the video-game generation, Miller's book - and now the movie based upon it - turns history into a heavy-metal album cover, with muscular freedom fighters lopping the heads off of swarthy villains at a mountainous stronghold.
Given the proclivities of its target audience, it's not surprising that the movie is morally confused. But this handsomely wrought artifact is also deficient as an action movie, with sluggish pacing and overly familiar effects. While individual frames are as carefully honed as a classical sculpture, the wheezy ideas and rusty fight sequences never come to life.
Spartan warriors, we're told, are not only superior to the "philosophers and boy lovers" of nearby Athens but also to Sparta's own clerics and politicians. So when an emissary arrives from Persia, King Leonidis (Gerard Butler, preposterously ripped) dispenses with diplomatic niceties and tosses the gentleman down a well.
Not a good idea. Soon the army of the Persian king Xerxes is massed on Sparta's doorstep. But Leonidis has a plan: He will lead his 300 fiercest warriors to a chokepoint in the mountains.
Armed only with shields and hoary slogans about freedom, the Spartans repel wave after wave of Persians. Persia became modern-day Iran, and it is surely no accident that the "Asian hordes" are depicted as dark-skinned degenerates. Some of the Persian warriors resemble Japanese samurai, some seem to be wearing Afghan burqas and the ruthless King Xerxes is bejeweled and effeminate.
So we're supposed to be thrilled when the foreigners are slain, in balletic slo-mo effects that have been handed down from "The Matrix."
Some of the imagery is undeniably beautiful, with the crimson robes and chiseled flesh of the Spartans contrasted against the inky wash of the mountains, sea and sky. But if the modern Spartans in the audience have developed some brains and heart to complement their video-game muscles, they might be able to count the ways in which "300" is ugly. I suppose, "mileage may vary"0 -
It was a great movie any way you turn it. Well worth the money spent to see it in the theater. The whole theater was cheering the Spartans on as they showed the Persians what a well trained, armed, and free people can do. 0 -
I saw it as well last night. I thought it was great. It was a good blend of fantasy/better movie and history. The reviews I'd read before going to the movie mostly have been written by a bunch of Libs who only want to see the bad parts of Western culture and can't stand to see/read anything that tells of the greatness of our past.
Dean
quote:Originally posted by kalifornian
It was told from the perspective of a tall tale, as it might have perhaps been verbally passed down to ancient Greek children. It's based on a graphic novel/comic book version of this battle, and is highly stylized. Think of it as a fantasy version rather than historically precise version. The major elements of the story are based on the historical concept, but it is a work of entertainment more than eduction. I really liked it, and wrote a detailed review of it here:
http://lestdarknessfall.blogspot.com/2007/03/300-fantasy-movie-about-thermopylae.html0 -
Saw the previews a couple months ago
looks like a must see to me....0 -
quote:Originally posted by mrseatle
Is it historically accurate?I was wondering the same thing. I mean, is it going to discuss how the Ewoks celebrated when the Death Star exploded?0 -
well that's 4 for and liberal media reviewers against. sounds like it's worth checking out. 0 -
it is my understanding that it is based on fact, (even the line about fighting in the shade was real) but it is a combined story of different accounts and different battles rolled into on.
looking forward to seeing it0 -
Y'all have convinced me to go see it tonight. I had not planned to.
D.0
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